


Especially when you are near me.

by lineadecuatro (Maiucha)



Category: Almost Human
Genre: 5+1, F/M, Five Times, Height difference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-16
Updated: 2014-08-16
Packaged: 2018-02-12 01:28:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2090652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maiucha/pseuds/lineadecuatro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Richard and Valerie height difference.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Especially when you are near me.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jadore_macabre (goodworkperky)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodworkperky/gifts).



> Response to the exchange during the Almost Human Fan Con, my prompter was [jadore_macabre](goodworkperky.tumblr.com/). 
> 
> Thanks to [slashersivi](slashersivi.tumblr.com/) and [lauchis](lauchis.tumblr.com/) for the beta. Originally posted [here](http://lineadecuatro.tumblr.com/post/82852523212).

i.

Valerie was sitting down when Richard found her, and it was slightly disorienting to be looking down at her.

"You okay?" he asked, with his eyes on her bandaged arm.

"Yeah, just a battle scar; I don’t have many of those," Valerie answered with a small smile. "What about you?"

"I used to get the ‘tough for a little guy’ line a lot, and it’s still working for me."

The comment made the smile turn into a smirk, “I’ll use that in the future, you know that, right?”

Richard let himself smile back, “Why do you think I told you about it?”

 

ii.

"I’m betting on Kennex," Richard admitted after a long silence. "It pains me to say it and I’ll deny it if you quote me on this, but the bastard is good at his job, so, he’s my bet to find us."

Pressed against him in the small space of the locker where they were trapped, Valerie laughed and Richard felt the vibrations in almost his whole body, it was equal parts disconcerting and interesting.

"You have to stop giving me material to use against you, Richard," she replied, sounding amused.

He tried to glare at her, but his attempt was wasted given the fact that there wasn’t much light around them and that his eyes were pointing below her eye line. This close, the centimeters Valerie had on him were impossible to miss. Plus, she was wearing boots. Damn her.

"I don’t know, Stahl," he finally decided to answer, making an effort to breath in and out away from her face. "I think you’re all talk and nothing else, it’s been more than a week—"

"I THINK THEY’RE IN THERE!" that was, without a doubt, Kennex’s voice.

"Our hero has arrived," Richard said, not caring the interruption of what he was saying; besides it was good to hear Kennex’s voice. For the first time since they had been working together.

"Clearly," Valerie agreed; there were still hints of laughter in her tone.

 

It was Dorian who pulled them out of the locker and who snapped the handcuffs off.

"There’s medical assistance on the way," the DRN informed them.

"I’m fine," Richard waved the android off dismissively.

"Tough for a little guy," Valerie said next to him, before thanking Dorian.

Richard only snorted in response and decided that it was a good moment to go pick a fight with Kennex, since he took so long finding them and all.

 

iii.

Richard was standing in the elevator between his MX and another one when the doors opened, revealing Valerie standing the other side. She stared at them for enough time that the elevator beeped and she had to jerk her arm forward stop the doors from closing again.

"Neither robots nor genetically modified humans can make any comments," Richard chose to announce once she entered.

Valerie didn’t hide her laugh at that.

 

iv.

Richard arrived later than usual to the shooting range, but he was rewarded with a silent atmosphere around him. It was refreshing.

"Are you sure you can reach the gun rack properly, Paul?" a familiar feminine voice came from behind him.

He smiled in despite of himself before turning, “It doesn’t work if you do the same joke with the coffee machine at work.”

"Mhm… you may have a point."

"Also, it’s not as valid when you’re not wearing heels," he teased.

"Excuse me?" Valerie walked towards him in big steps and stopped right in front of him. "It’s totally valid."

It was. Not like Richard was going to say that out loud, of course, but she was taller than him. Not as notorious when she was wearing sneakers, but it still worked, it still meant he had to look up to meet her eyes properly. So, Richard did just that, looked up to meet her eyes, to see the triumphant expression sprawled all over her face. The challenge was still in her features, as if she was either waiting for him to accept defeat or dare to dispute her.

She was too close to be contradicted, almost as close as weeks ago, in the locker where they had been captive, but with more light and air around them, giving Richard the chance to see her, giving him the crazy idea that—

"Detective Stahl! Your station is ready!" Someone called out from the front making them jump; Richard wasn’t the only one who took a step back.

"I should… yeah, uhm, that," Valerie made a vague gesture with her hand and nodded at Richard before walking away.

Richard blinked four times before walking toward his lane to start his shooting practice.

 

v.

"Richard does think you’re good at your job, John," Valerie said, face as neutral as she could master, and it caused the instant effect on both Richard and Kennex: they choked into their coffees.

Kennex was still coughing when Richard recovered enough to scowl at her, “You’ve been waiting for that opportunity.”

"You have no idea how much."

"I’m glad you enjoyed it, I’m sorry to tell you now you’re out of ammo."

"I know you’ll give me more, shorty."

"You’re running out of creative replies, Detective Stahl. Aren’t chromes supposed to be smart all the time?" Richard asked as he started to walk away from her desk.

"Just like the average height of a grown up male is supposed to be about 5’10”." She called out to him, Richard was glad they weren’t facing each other; the smile on his face probably would mean he wasn’t much insulted.

 

+1

A few steps ahead of them Rudy was monopolizing Kennex with questions about – well, Richard had no idea about what, but Kennex seemed annoyed. Both his DRN and Maldonado looked amused, so it was okay by Richard’s standards. At his side, Valerie’s heels made a ‘clack-clack-clack’ sound against the pavement.

"I don’t think they’re gonna last all the way to McQuaid’s like that," Valerie pointed out, her words stronger than the ‘clack-clack-clack’ that somehow distracted Richard, but not loud enough to be heard by anyone but him.

"I don’t know, with the Captain there he’s forced to be on his best behavior." The words had barely left Richard’s mouth when Rudy tried to put his arm around John’s shoulders, which earned him a push and John trading places with Dorian.

"Good call," Valerie hummed.

"Well, it’s not my fault if Loom doesn’t help himself."

They were in silence after that, Richard again found himself focused on the ‘clack-clack-clack’ and at times diverted by Rudy’s obnoxious sounds.

"You know," Valerie said out of nowhere, and Richard felt an arm around his own, making him slow down slightly, falling into a more relaxed step than before. "You haven’t given me anything good in a while."

"My deepest apologies," Richard answered, feeling not apologetic in the least, but highly focused on the grip Valerie had on his arm: strong, secure, determined.

"I can’t keep going with ‘stand up when you say that’ and ‘can you reach that?’ comments anymore, they’re even boring me."

"I can’t express my sympathy for your problems enough," Richard said, biting down his bottom lip to stop the smile that wanted to appear in his face.

"No, you clearly can’t," she said, stopping her walk and stopping Richard with her, too. She let go of his arm, smiling. They were standing in the middle of the street, barely apart from each other; Richard was looking up at her, as usual. Valerie was still smiling. Faintly Richard could hear the voices of the rest of the team, but he didn’t really care. Valerie didn’t stop smiling.

"On a scale from one to ten," she said, her head inclined a fraction down, "how much does it bother you that I’m taller?"

"Eleven," Richard replied, and brought her closer to him for a kiss.

It felt strange having to lift his head to kiss, feeling hands pulling at the back of his neck to tilt his head up. It was almost humiliating to consider the possibility of getting on his toes. It was, however, very much worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm never going to stop writing this two, stay tuned for more unnecessary Richard/Valerie fluff xD or come talk to me about them (or anything involving this show, honestly). I'm a lot around [tumblr](lineadecuatro.tumblr.com/).


End file.
